


Starring In The Face Of Death

by chlolou1208



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Charity is a softie, F/F, Long live Vanessa, Vanity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23122327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chlolou1208/pseuds/chlolou1208
Summary: Set after Charity and Vanessa break the news about Vanessa’s diagnosis to Chas, Rhona and Paddy.
Relationships: Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield
Comments: 11
Kudos: 83





	Starring In The Face Of Death

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfic :)
> 
> Leave a review maybe? 
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)
> 
> Follow my Twitter @Chlo_barnes12

The house is quiet when they arrive back from the pub, almost as if they didn’t live with two extremely rowdy two year olds, a moody teenager obsessed with shouting at the invisible players behind his computer games and of course, a not so easy to handle granddaughter.

It’s only half past six, the sky is a little brighter yet the wind still roars around the village. Charity had been complaining on the walk over to the pub about the freezing cold weather yet still refused to wear a bobble hat that Vanessa had pushed onto her head. “You’ll catch your death out there if you don’t” she’d said, not missing the way Charity’s eyes looked at the word.

_Death._

Something you can’t see, something you never know is coming, something they forget about when having movie nights with the boys and all they can see is Moses’ face stuffed with sweet and salted popcorn. But now, since the cancer, it’s like that’s all they know. All they think about, when is so called ‘death’ going to come and knock at Vanessa’s door and steal her away from the world. Charity’s world. It’s like it’s become a part of them, always peeping over Vanessa’s shoulder while they try to forget about the tumour growing day by day inside of her.

They’d just told the family, the ones that matter anyway Charity thinks, still furious over Marlon’s harsh tongue towards herself and her fiancé. Her poorly fiancé, that had to be quizzed and interrogated in the pub over her involvement with the ‘absolute worst crime on earth’ committed by the selfish pub owner and long lost son. Caught up in her thoughts about how she should have punched him right there and then like she did when criticising her parenting skills over Noah, she doesn’t hear Vanessa ask if she wanted tea.

“Earth to charity…?” Vanessa says jokingly but concern loiters in her eyes.

“What? Sorry babe…yeah I’ll have one tar, I’ll go check on the kids then I’ll be down” Charity brushes past her with a smile, kissing her head as she goes.

She reaches the top of the stairs to see the kids huddled in Sarah’s room, even Noah’s there holding a bowl of…Doritos? She struggles to see in the low lit room but she believes sees him dunk his crisp in a jar of salsa and then tease Moses with it, who catches his wrist and steals crisp before Noah can take it back. Johnny laughs of course and Sarah hushes them then, her eyes fixed on the screen as a group of girls walk in slow motion through a hallway. She smiles slightly then. Maybe they’re not so hard to handle after all. She thinks about going in, but turns and heads into the bathroom instead. Looking into the mirror, she nearly grimaces at the bags under her eyes. Having hardly gotten any sleep these past few days, few weeks even, she’s not surprised they’re there. Chas had even mentioned how tired she looked and to ‘try and get some sleep tonight’, not in front of Vanessa of course, who was hugging Rhona and Paddy on their way out of the pub. She’d also said that she’d be there incase she wanted to talk. It was nice of her really, shows someone actually cares to know how she’s dealing with all this instead of just criticising her, like Tracy had. Not that she’s angry at Tracy, not really, not anymore at least. After all, look how she’d reacted to it at first. She’d buried her head in the sand, tried it block it out but at the same time she couldn’t escape it, couldn’t get it out of her mind which is why she’d left when Vanessa had told her. Preferring to cry in the back of the pub than into Vanessa’s arms because it should be vice versa, she needs to be the rock now. After finding out the day after that her fiancé went to the hospital alone she mentally vowed to be there for her every step of the way, even if Vanessa tries to push her away like she had multiple times back in the early days of their relationship. She thinks it’s a miracle how Vanessa has stuck by her after how she’d treated her after telling her about Bails, but then remembers how much they both love each other, _stupidly and completely._

“Oi you, you’re drinks going cold and I’m gonna end up eating your choc-y biscuits if you don’t hurry up”

She smiles, properly for the first time in weeks, it’s like now that their loved ones are aware of Vanessa’s cancer they can start this journey to beating this cancer even if she herself doubts it sometimes, she remembers how strong Vanessa is. Her tiny blonde rocket woman, who’ll fight this cancer with her family by her side. Every step. And she’ll win.

With a new sense of determination, she splashes water on her face and quickly dries it on the yellow towel (three guesses who’s choice that was), and heads back downstairs.

“Hey you, best not have eaten me biscuits” She says as she grabs her mug from the counter and sits beside Vanessa, who’s pulled out the duvet and snuggled beneath it.

“What you gonna do if I have ey?” She says grinning as she takes a bite into her chocolate digestive, tiny crumbs falling off into the bed of off-white fabric.

While she’s not looking Charity leans over, her hand on Vanessa’s knee, and takes a bite out of the biscuit in Vanessa’s hand, licking her lips and exaggerating her reaction to the taste.

“That” she says, mouthful.

“Cheeky beggar, I put effort into finding them only to find out that you’d hidden them on the top shelf, had to stretch right up I did”

Charity’s about to comment on not straining herself but thinks better of it, “well then maybe you should think about that the next time you take a full pack of biscuits to your puppies at work”, she emphasises ‘puppies’ with a pull to her lip and a high pitched voice.

Vanessa gasps, literally. “I don’t feed them the puppies! Chocolate’s bad for ‘em…” Charity rolls her eyes and watches with a smirk on her face as Vanessa takes a sip out of her tea, “…I crush them up for the hamsters, they love it” she mumbles quietly. She pouts and Charity scoffs.

It falls silent then, well except from the tv, constantly changing from one channel to the next as Vanessa tries to find something to watch. She settles on an animal programme about the penguins and the Antarctic in the end, Charity lets her because as Vanessa had reminded her when at first she’d cringed at her choice, she’d do anything for her. Even if that meant watching a boring old show about some bird that lives in the snow. If Vanessa likes it, then she guesses she will too.

Charity rests her mug on the coffee table in front of the sofa and leans into Vanessa’s side. With her eyes fixed on the screen as she watches baby penguins hatch, she finds Charity’s hand under the quilt cover and intertwines their fingers.

Death can bog off, Charity thinks. Vanessa isn’t going anywhere, she’ll make sure of it.


End file.
